Bronzino - Hardcover

McCorquodale, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0064304507 ISBN 13: 9780064304504

Publisher: Jupiter Books, 1981

Synopsis

Few painters could be said to have shaped posterity's image of a particular society against the historical and social background as did Bronzino. His portraits, religious subjects and mythological scenes seem to crystallise the urbanity, luxury, elegant erudition and cruelty of the Italian mid-sixteenth century mannerist style.A pupil of the religious painter Pontormo, Bronzino worked predominantly at the Court of Cosimo de'Medici in Florence, creating an artistic approach to the real and ideal that was praised by his contemporary, Vasari, as the epitome of all that had been achieved by his predecessors Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo. Yet later criticism of Bronzino's art reflected a general lack of understanding and appreciation for this period as a whole, giving vent to the idea that his work was over stylised and esoteric.In this lucid and carefully researched study, Charles McCorquodale succeeds in presenting this difficult artist and his relationship to contemporary art in Florence in a manner that simultaneously unravels and dispels many of the misunderstandings of Bronzino's oeuvre.

The author clearly shows that the artist's own claim to have been the last great painter of the Florentine Renaissance is fundamentally true; as a portraitist he stands amongst Titian, Rubens and Ingres; as a colourist his palette of radiant hues and deep tonality places his work within a category of sophistication unprecedented during the Renaissance and scarcely equalled since.

About this edition

• Publisher: Jupiter Books
• Publication date: 1981
• ISBN 10: 0064304507
• ISBN 13: 9780064304504
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1